Draft-equalizer



(No Model.)

- L. B. MILLER.

DRAFT E QUALIZER.

' No. 475,133. Patented May 17, 1892.

' linrrnin STATES PATE T OFFICE- LAWRENCE B. MILLER, OF ENTERPRISE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO T. M- J ONES, OF ABILENE, KANSAS.

DRAFT-EQUALIZER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 475,133, dated May 17, 1892.

Application filed December 2, 1891. Serial No. 413,799. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE B. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Enterprise, in the county of Dickinson and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Draft-Equalizers and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art I0 to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in draft-equalizers, and the objectis to provide an improved arrangement of devices whereby the draft of four horses can be perfectly equalized; and a further object is to provide a device which can be easily and quickly adapted for three or four horses, as desired.

\Vith these ends in view my invention contemplates pivotally securing on the tongue a long draft-lever, which carries the doubletrees and extends a greater distance on one side of the tongue than on the other. The longer arm is divided and clamped together, so that the length thereof may be readily adjusted, as desired, when three or four horses are employed. In rear of this draft-lever the main lever is pivoted on the tongue, and it also has a long and short arm, which extend 0 in opposite directions to the respective arms of the draft-lever. The short arm of this main lever is loosely connected by a rod to a swivel on the long arm of the draft-lever, and the short arm of said main lever is also loosely connected by a rod to the doubletree of the pole-horses. This doubletree is pivotally supported on a crank-bar, which is pivoted in the end of the short arm of the draftlever, and by this peculiar arrangement the 0 pole-horses are harnessed on both sides of the tongue when four horses are employed. When it is desired to use but three horses,,the doubletree on the end of the long arm of the draft-lever is removed and the short piece on the end of said lever is adjusted on the long arm of the draft-lever to shorten the same. A singletree is attached to the draft-lever by a bolt, which passes through a U-shaped' strap on the singletree and the two sections of the draft-lever at the swivel thereon.

My invention consists, further, of certain details of construction and arrangement of parts, as will more fully appear hereinafter.

To enable others to more readily understand my invention, I have illustrated the same in the accompanying drawings, in Which Figure I is a top plan view of the equalizer adapted for four horses. Fig. II is a similar View showing the equalizer adapted and arranged for three horses. Fig. III is a rear end view of Fig. I. Fig. IV is a detail view of the crank-bar.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters ofreference denote corresponding parts in all the figures, A designates the tongue, and B the draft-lever, which is pivoted thereon in the usual position bya bolt 0,. This draft-lever is eccentrically pivoted on the tongue and the longer arm is composed of two pieces, one of which I) is secured to the main piece by bolts and a keeper b, and it can be suitably adjusted on the main portion to shorten or lengthen this end of the draft-lever. A doubletree O, carrying the usual singletrees, is pivotally secured on the outer end of the draft-lever, and it may be adj usted by means of bolt-holes provided in the lever for that purpose. In rear of the draft-lever the main lever D is eccentrically pivoted on the tongue at d, and a metal strip a is fastened on the tongue over the draft and main levers, and it has suitable bends in it over each lever to permit the latter to oscillate in their proper direction. As before stated, the main lever is also eccentrically pivoted on the tongue, and its long arm and short arm extend fart-her on opposite sides of the tongue than the respective arms of the draft-lever. The short arm of-the main lever is loosely connected to the long arm of the draft-lever by a rod E and swivel e. The swivel is pivoted on the long arm by a bolt 6', passing through both pieces thereof, and it is so constructed that it will operate when extending at right angles to the draft-lever or at more acute angles thereto 5 with equal efficiency. The long arm of the main lever is loosely connected bya rod F to the pole-doubletree G, and a number of holes are provided in the lever, whereby the rod may be adj ustably secured thereto. This I00 pole-doubletree is pivotally supported on a crank-bar g, the ends of which are turned at an angle to thebar and constitute the. pivots for the doubletree on said armand the-"arm on the short end of the draft-lever. By this construction and arrangement of parts the pole-doubletree will be so pivoted and secured that the singletrees carried thereby will be on either side of'the' tongue, and this will'pro vide one horseon the left side otthetongue and three on the other side. The doubletrees and singletrees of the equalizer will keep their respective positions when in use,-as the different parts and connections are so proportioned that any unequal draft is easilyand readily equalized.

This improved equalizer may b'e-u'sed more especially on harvesting-machines of any description-',- and canalso .be readily adapteduto heavy .'pl ows,-wagons,- &c., without=havinglan y sidesdraft.:. 'lhezdraft-leveris braced -by:a

sui-tablevhraceebar H, I which. is secured -be--- neathwthewtongue.

Th'emperation -of' changing the equalizer toadapt it for three horses-maybe describedas followsr The doubletree on short piece!) ofalong arm'of-draft-lever is-removed andsubstituted by a sin gletree,-and" this-is done. by removing a bolt e out of swivel and slidm ing-the -sh'ort piece'.onthe draft-leverin on the longaarm thereof to asu-itable "position,

where the :holes one each piece will register in order that boltswill passsthro-ugh bothpieces: 1

The swivel eis moved to the second holefrom theend of t-he' short piece I), so that the-bolt 6- will pass? through theswiveland the short pieceyand .the'singlet-ree' is attached to thedra'ft-lever-by-a U-shaped strap; L on saido si'ngletree; the ends of which pass above and.

below the draft-lever, respectively, and aresecuredthereto bythevbolt e, which passesthrough theqends of said strap, the swivel e, andthetwo sectionsof the-drafit-leven Then the main" lever D is reversed and attached .to the-tonguethrough the samehole as :when used-for 'four-horsesand the rods E F are properly adjusted.

It has-been found that the. equalizer may side and two 'on the-left side the equalizer: i

can: be readily reversed and adjusted for this purpose;-

If it should be desired to use three horses onz the left and one our the :right sideof the tongue, the change may be readily made in the following manner: The rods E F, pole doubletree G, and bolts (1 a, connecting the main and .draft levers to thetongue, are removed, and after taking out the bolt 6 these -two-levers'are both reversed. The bolts are then replaced in the same holes and the swivel, doublet-rees, and rods are all replaced in their respective places.

' Having thus fully described my invention, ,whatl claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a tongue, of a draft-lever B, eccentrically pivoted thereon and carrying the doubletrees, themain lever 'D, eccentrically pivoted on thetonguein rear of :thedraft-lever, the swivel 6, carried bythe longi'arm: of the. draft-lever between :the =fu-l--.

icrum of=-the leverand-the doubletreeeon theo long arm thereof, .the: rod- E, connectingrthe. {short arm of the-main: lever to sardsw-ivel,

iopposi-tesides of the tongue, and the-rodrF,

keeper-b, which fits snugly over the-inner jendof theadjustableipiece' b to rigidlyhold the same, the main: lever having a longanda 1 short arm, the rod E, connecting the :short" a-rln'of the-mainlever and :the long arm 10f thedraft-lever, the "crank-bar g, pivoted "at one'end onthe shortarm of the.d-raft zlever and carrying a doubletreeG onits other end,

and they rod F, connecting said doubletree and "the longv arm of the main- 16V6'l,'SllbSi&l1-'

tiall y as described In testimon-ywhereof I affix mysignature in presence of twowitnesses. LAWRENCE-B; MILLER Witnesses? H. G.- FISHER,.. WILLIAM- O. BELT."

{the crank-bar g, pivoted; at one 'endorb-the short arm of the draft-lever and carryinga" .idoubletree G at its other end, whereby the @singletrees attached to said doubletree are on 

